Andrew Sarris

“….But let’s face it: They had me hooked from the outset by casting Jodie Foster in the lead. I’ll go see her in anything, and I’m never disappointed….

“But it is ultimately Jodie Foster who holds the picture together with her heavy-lidded, hoarse-voiced authority. Her face has gotten slightly plump in what should be her painfully awkward age, but the strange blend of skepticism (rather than outright suspicion) and generosity (rather than outright gullibility) is very rare in actresses of any age. From that first moment in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore when I mistook her for a boy instead of a girl, my attachment to her has gone beyond enchantment to enchainment. At a time when females (and males) are desperately looking for role models, one can do a lot worse than Jodie Foster, who seems to suggest hidden reserves of psychic, moral, and physical strength fo rthe most fearsome circumstances. Her last scene at the grave of a friend resonates with an adolescent solemnity that is alone worthe the price of admission. And it is good for a change to see a film that recognizes and respects the vulnerability of the young without slobbering all over it.”

Andrew Sarris
Village Voice, March 10, 1980